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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

This is sort of a repost, as I made a failed post in the piano forum yesterday.

Anyway,Yesterday morning my first ever piano arrived in a big, but not so high package.I did not expect it to come unassembled. The salesperson never mentioned it.The assembly turned out to be pretty straight forward. (no missing screws)Just a bit tricky doing it by myself. Especially the mounting of the keyboard. Quite heavy.

Either way, as you can see it's assembled. And I am happy to say it's also working.I haven't gone through all the functions yet. But all the keys sound good and feel good.I started the Alfred all-in-one course yesterday, and will start lessons next month. It will be interesting to have the lessons on an acoustic and comparing it to this CN-33.

I'll keep you up to date on my further findings of the piano and will post some more photos as well.But so far, I'm liking it.

That shot bears more than a parsing resemblance to the CN33 scene in the brochure.

It's a little worrying to read that you lifted the heavy main keyboard section by yourself, however I'm glad that you've been able to assemble the instrument and begin to play.

It's interesting that you're learning using the Alfred materials too. As you may know, the UK, US, and Australasia models ship with built-in Alfred lesson songs, as opposed to the Czerny and Burgmüller exercises featured on the European models.

Anyway, regardless of the learning materials used, may I wish you the best of luck with your new hobby!

James:I was aware of different lesson function, but I don't mind so much as I'll probably check out the Czerny and Bergmuller stuff as well.The keyboard section was quite heavy, but I managed quite well.It's pretty straightforward to slide it into the frame.

Vectistim:Actually, I don't trust myself with that vase either. I'll take it off when I get home.

Eyst:Yeah, I wouldn't have picked the cherry either. It was going to be either satin Black or Rosewood. The Rosewood just matched my cupboards better..

Mine was delivered today, in one piece! That's taken me something like 2 months waiting, and saving pennies. I will also take a photo and upload it later on today. My trusty Casio is going to be demoted to the spare room, although it will also go on travels with me.

Mine was delivered today, in one piece! That's taken me something like 2 months waiting, and saving pennies. I will also take a photo and upload it later on today. My trusty Casio is going to be demoted to the spare room, although it will also go on travels with me.

Dah da, here it is:

It might not be its final place, I have to take advice on that :-) but it's only a small house. I really tested in advance in the store, but even so there's a couple of pleasant surprises:

Mawima suggested on another thread the mellow piano sound (Piano 1-3), yup it sounds great to me for some music.

I love the church organ, compared to my Casio. Must have scared my neighbour trying to play Bachs Toccata in D Minor really LOUD. Love it. Now to learn to play it properly. Oh yes, and everything else too!

Need some time to transition from the lighter and looser keys of the Casio.

I didn't see a smiley in your post on the comment, so just to be clear it's a piece of art/sculpture made of (rusting) steel. I'm not sure why it's there as AFAIK there's no musical link to the offices/park. I jog past it regularly and think it's great.

<offtopic>I went out cycling during my lunch break (as I do every day), and slipped on some wet metal grating in the road. It happens every so often when the road surface is a little greasy from rain, however on this occasion my shoe didn't disengage from the pedal - I came off the bike but my foot stayed with it.

No broken bones, but a badly torn ligament means no cycling for 3-4 months. ;(

I showed the photo to one of my colleagues at Kawai Europe - he asked if I had perhaps failed to read the owner's manual safety/assembly instructions properly. Who says Germans have no sense of humour?</offtopic>

I always like to see the stool/bench that people use as I don't have one. I have back trouble, not related to piano and am reluctant to invest in a traditional style bench without back support. But I've just started to learn to pedal and find sitting back on my office style chair doesn't work so well for that. I might start saving for a bench next, after the summer holiday.

I always like to see the stool/bench that people use as I don't have one. I have back trouble, not related to piano and am reluctant to invest in a traditional style bench without back support. But I've just started to learn to pedal and find sitting back on my office style chair doesn't work so well for that. I might start saving for a bench next, after the summer holiday.

It's a simple bench from Thomann. They are very affordable and very ok for the price in my opinion.

Sorry to see the picture of your injured ankle. Seems like you had a pretty nasty spill for the ligaments to be torn. Hope you'll be back on your bike soon enough.

Per the pianos in CN/CA series, they have built-in Alfred lessons but it seems these are only the first year lessons. Will it be possible to load 2nd/3rd year lessons into these pianos later? For that matter, can I acquire this capability for Kawai ES6 (which is under consideration), a Kawai piano of the same generation as the CN series pianos, i.e. by loading Alfred lessons on a computer connected to ES6?

But it is not just the stored Alfred piano lessons, it is also what Kawai has done with their pianos to work with the Alfred lessons: they can slow down to make it easier to play along; they can also mute either the left- or right- hand portion so the player can focus on the fingering of one opposite hand.

In another thread, in response to my question on auto-accompaniment, robdean was kind enough to share the info on a software called "Amazing Slow Downer", so presumably one can acquire the slow-down capability with the software loaded on a computer.

As for the muting of left/right hand, I am not sure how necessary it is. This sounds like an interesting and potentially useful feature, but haven't people been learning how to play the piano with one hand at a time, then combining two hands on a piano for ages?

But I must admit that, with the built-in Alfred lessons, along with specific technologies designed to make learning easier, have made the CA/CN pianos very attractive to this aspiring beginner. I only wish these features are available on the ES6, or somewhat retrofitted into ES6.

These are probably not appropriate questions for this forum. I will head over to Adult Beginners Forum to do more research over there.

"I went out cycling during my lunch break... and slipped on some wet metal grating in the road... on this occasion my shoe didn't disengage from the pedal - I came off the bike but my foot stayed with it... a badly torn ligament means no cycling for 3-4 months. ;("

I hope you're better soon, James! I've taken a few bad spills on my bike through the years, but never took to the toe clips for the very reason you mentioned--- maybe I wasn't entirely paranoid after all. Back in the day, Atlanta used to have drainage grates all over town with a slot just wide enough to eat a bike tire to the hubs (and plenty of rain and slick conditions--- and this was before helmets; I had never heard of a bike helmet back then). Sure did love to ride, though, and never put on a single pound for almost thirty years.

They can work near-miracles with those fiber-optic surgery techniques, so with some luck and rest, you'll never know it even happened.

The plaster cast was removed the other day, but I am having to wear ankle support strapping all day to keep the joint at a right-angle. I can just about walk and get up and down stairs, but it's clearly going to be some time before I'll be back in the saddle again.

Anyway, back to the thread...

Originally Posted By: YoungH

Per the pianos in CN/CA series, they have built-in Alfred lessons but it seems these are only the first year lessons. Will it be possible to load 2nd/3rd year lessons into these pianos later?

Current CA/CN models feature the following built-in Alfred lesson books:

I'm afraid it is not possible to upgrade the built-in lesson books with newer or more advanced material.

Originally Posted By: YoungH

For that matter, can I acquire this capability for Kawai ES6 (which is under consideration), a Kawai piano of the same generation as the CN series pianos, i.e. by loading Alfred lessons on a computer connected to ES6?

Unfortunately it's not possible to upgrade the ES6's software to add the lesson functionality of the CN/CA. However by connecting the instrument to a computer and replaying each Alfred song as a MIDI (assuming that the MIDI files are available) it should be possible to recreate much of the Kawai DP's functionality (adjusting tempo, muting left/right hand) - albeit with the convenience of operating the lessons from the instrument directly.

Originally Posted By: YoungH

As for the muting of left/right hand, I am not sure how necessary it is. This sounds like an interesting and potentially useful feature, but haven't people been learning how to play the piano with one hand at a time, then combining two hands on a piano for ages?

Yes, you're absolutely right. However, I believe the benefit of muting the left/right hand during playback is that it allows the player to play alone and 'hear' how the piece should be performed with both hands.

Originally Posted By: YoungH

But I must admit that, with the built-in Alfred lessons, along with specific technologies designed to make learning easier, have made the CA/CN pianos very attractive to this aspiring beginner. I only wish these features are available on the ES6, or somewhat retrofitted into ES6.

I agree, the built-in Alfred lessons (Czerny, Burgmüller, etc. etudes on models sold in mainland Europe) are a useful addition for beginners - especially when combined with the notated scores. Including such functionality on the ES6 would be a nice addition, however this instrument is intended as a stage piano for gigging musicians.